Cracks were revealed in the state witness’s version of events in the Holyland
corruption trial on Tuesday, according to media reports.

According to the News1 website, the witness, known as “S.D.” under gag order, said that former
prime minister Ehud Olmert received a total of NIS 1.5 million in bribes, but
contradicted himself about the individual amounts.

He also said he did
not remember any other details, such as whether the payments were made in cash
or by check.

When challenged by a defense attorney over the fact that the
witness did not seem to remember anything other than the total amount that
Olmert received, the witness confirmed the accusation, responding “yes,”
according to the report.

In light of trial developments in recent weeks,
this contradiction only exacerbates previous holes in S.D.’s story that have
been exposed on a daily basis. He has repeatedly not been able to remember key
pieces of information, and time after time has made claims about the content of
various documents only to later be forced to admit that he could not find the
material in the documents in question.

S.D. was hospitalized a week ago,
bringing the trial to a screeching halt. Prior to his health crisis, the trial
had focused entirely on his testimony, delivered four days a week, from 9
a.m. to 2 p.m.

Originally, the court hoped S.D. would be out of
the hospital by Thursday and that it would reduce the number of hours he needed
to testify each day to about three.

The case involves one of the largest
bribery and fraud schemes in the country’s history. It has implicated public
officials in moving a large deluxe residential housing project forward in
Jerusalem while overlooking various building and zoning regulations.